In Honour Of St. Alphonsus Rodriguez

Laybrother of the Society of Jesus

Honour is flashed off exploit, so we say;
And those strokes once that gashed flesh or galled shield
Should tongue that time now, trumpet now that field,
And, on the fighter, forge his glorious day.
On Christ they do and on the martyr may;
But be the war within, the brand we wield
Unseen, the heroic breast not outward-steeled,
Earth hears no hurtle then from fiercest fray.

Yet God (that hews mountain and continent,
Earth, all, out; who, with trickling increment,
Veins violets and tall trees makes more and more)
Could crowd career with conquest while there went
Those years and years by of world without event
That in Majorca Alfonso watched the door.

Other poems of HOPKINS (79)

Comments (2)

i hadn't read this poem nor heard of St. Alphonsus till a moment ago. i like that hopkins gives an alternative view to the way the world usually sees things. i see similarities to another sonnet, milton's on his blindness. -glen kappy

Alphonsus fought personal battles against failure, loss, temptation, and disease. He was more like us in his ordinariness and suffering. And he showed us how to be faithful to God throughout long spiritual and personal struggles.
Alphonsus’s early years in Segovia, Spain, are a story of tragedies. When he was fourteen, his father died and he left school to help his mother run the family business. At twenty-three he married, but his wife died in childbirth three years later. Within a few years his mother and son also died. On top of this, his business was failing, so he sold it. Recognizing a late vocation to religious life, he applied for admission to the Jesuits at Segovia, but was refused because he was not educated. Undaunted, Alphonsus returned to Latin school, humbly bearing the ridicule of his adolescent classmates. Finally, in 1571, the Jesuit provincial accepted him as a lay brother. He was sent to Montesione College on Majorca, where he served as doorkeeper for forty-five years. His post allowed him to minister to many visitors. And he became the spiritual adviser to many students. He exerted wide-reaching influence. [http: //www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-voices/16th-and-17th-century-ignatian-voices/st-alphonsus-rodriguez-sj]
To get through his troubles and trials, Alphonsus stuck to a few simple spiritual guidelines that navigated him through his troubles and trials. For example, as a method for finding joy in hardship, he tried to imitate Christ, sharing in spirit all His sufferings. He tried to consider how much he owed Him and what He has done for Alphonsus. He would tell himself “What does it matter, my God, that I should endure for your love these small hardships? For you, Lord, endured so many great hardships for me.” In that way he encouraged himself to endure for love of the Lord until I make what is bitter sweet..
- - - - - - Yet God (that hews mountain and continent,
Earth, all, out; who, with trickling increment,
Veins violets and tall trees makes more and more)
Could crowd career with conquest while there went
Those years and years by without event
That in Majorca Alfonso watched the door.